Continuous process and apparatus for making paper yarn



July 28, 1959 R. H. MARKS I 2,896,393

CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan. 16, 1957 6 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR R. H. MARKS CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan. 16, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR lllllllllll V ATTORNEY v CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan. 16, 1957 R. H. MARKS July 28, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR MIA 59, 9164141 14 ATTORNE July 28., 1959 R. H. MARKS 2,896,393

CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan. 16, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY Q [a E ATTORN Y INVENTOR July 28, 1959 R.-H. MARKS 2,396,393

CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS- FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan. 16, 1957 e Sheets-Sheet 5 R. H. MARKS July 28, 1959 CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YARN Filed Jan 16, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR $Lomfd 5F gma/zfio ATTO BY United States Patent O CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER YA'RN Ronald H. Marks, Dallas, Tex.

Application January 16, 1957, Serial No. 634,480

7 Claims. (Cl. 57-32) My invention relates broadly to a machine and method for forming paper into paper yarn, string or tape, and more particularly to a unitary equipment into which roll paper may be introduced and from which twisted paper yarn, string or fiat tape may be processed in a form wound upon spindles.

One of the objects of my invention isto provide a method of converting roll paper into paper yarn which is slit and twisted and processed through either a wet or dry method for knitting'into paper products of various kinds on a mass production scale.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of unitary machine adapted to convert roll paper into slitted, twisted, and processed wet or dry, into wound paperyarn for use in the knitting of various paper products, and for other purposes.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a construction of machine for slitting paper from a paper roll and delivering paper strands to a twisting, moistening, drying and winding operation within the confines of a unitary machine for the rapid conversion of roll paper into paper yarn.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in the construction and arrangement of component parts of a machine for slitting, treating, twisting, drying and winding paper into paper yarn, as set forth more fully in the.

specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine of my invention schematically illustrating the process and method of my invention for producingpaper yarn;

Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview looking into the slitting mechanism of the machine of my invention and illustrating the manner in which the slitted paper strips are guided into the treating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view looking at the rear of the slitting mechanism and showing the paper strips being directed toward the treating mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a top view shown in perspective of the machine of my invention looking from the rear of the slitting mechanism and showing the manner of directing the paper strips into the treating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the slitting mechanism in the machine of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 1, on a somewhat enlarged scale to illustrate the manner of feeding the paper to the .paper slitting mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a schematic cross sectional view taken substantially on line 7-7 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of a number of the strand twisters used in the machine of my invention, looking in the direction of arrow A, in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the strand-pulling mechanism, the twisting mechanism, and the winding mechanism used in the machine of my invention; and A J ice Fig. 10 is a fragmentary vertical elevational. view looking in the direction of arrows 10-10 of Fig. 9.

My invention is directed to a continuous process and apparatus for the slitting, treating, twisting, drying and winding of paper into yarn and other paper products by which a superior product is obtained with a reduction in labor cost when compared to prior methods of manufacturing somewhat similar items. My invention is concerned with paper yarn of the type employed in the Paper Seamless Circular Tubular Knitted Product of my Letters Patent 2,721,462 of October 25, 1955; and as set forth in the Automatic Mechanism for Closing and Cutting Paper Seamless Circular Tubular Knitted Products of my application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 541,736 of October 20, 1955, now Patent No. 2,819,467; and as set forth in my application Serial No. 542,078

. of October 21, 1955 for Knitted Paper Yardage Formed dividual handling of the product in moving from one operation to the other. The individual operations produce waste in material as well as actual labor and also reduce the quality of the product finally produced, be-

cause of knotting of the yarn or paper products from broken segments as it is being changed from one opera-.

tion to the other. The machine of my invention provides a means whereby the paper yarn or paper product can be manufactured in a continuous operation; the paper being taken from an original roll through the slitter, through the wetting rolls to the twister, which also provides for winding and through an additional attachment for the drying of the yarn to the proper degree required for a superior product.

In earlier methods, a roll of paper of approximately 50" in width and 32" in diameter, is placed on a shaft and the paper is then rewound from the original roll after being broken apart into strips of the desired size and thus reformed into smaller rolls in width, which are known generally in the trade as cheeses. The slitter operation is costly in labor and because of the ease with which the thin cheeses can collapse through handling, as well as on the machine itself, there is a waste in both the labor applied to the operation and to the paper which cannot be used, and must be sold for scrap.

The second operation in previous methods is the removal of the cheeses from the slitting machine either by hand or mechanical conveyor, or by truck to the twister. At this point, each of the reduced size rolls or cheeses is mounted on the twister and is threaded through a series of rolls for wetting and then through a fly or ring where the twisting actions taken place. The paper. is then gathered on a bobbin and is removed from the machine after it has reached its capacity for the next step in the process.

The third step in previous methods consisted of rewinding the yarn or material from the bobbin to the winding machine. Again there is the necessity of moving the yarn from one machine or department to another to accomplish this operation, and there is the usual overhead and cost of labor involved in handling the yarn or material. The winding operation consists of tying many ends of paper yarn or paper products to a cone and the action of the winding machine produces a tapered cone or a straight spool. During this operation there frequently develops a great many breaks because of un- This opera-1 eral distinct and removal steps set forth hereinbefore;

A unitary machine is provided by my invention into which a. roll of paper is introduced and from which finished, wound, twisted paper yarn is obtained. The conventional paper roll is mounted in the machine of my invention and fed through a slitting mechanism in an improved manner from which severed strips are supplied to a treating mechanism. The strips are separately treated and then moved into a twisting mechanism. In the course of "the twisting operation the twisted strips are subjected to a drying operation after which the dried, twisted 'yarn is Wound upon spindles ready for direct sale or knitting of the products enumerated in my aforesaid patent and applications-for patent and other products. A unitary drive is provided for all of the operations performed in the method and apparatus of my invention, that is, the same electric motor drives the mechanism for drawing the paper through the slitting mechanism; theslitting mechanism is driven by the said motor; the twisting mechanism is driven by the motor; and the spindles for winding the finished paper yarn is driven from the same motor all within the confines of the same machine without any handling of the paper intermediate any of the aforesaid steps. That is to say, the paper yarn or paper products are receivedfrom the machine of my invention on a tapered cone or spool which is already wound forimmediate use in the knitting, weaving or direct sale of the product for other purposes such as paper string or twine.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, reference character 1 designates the frame of the machine which supports stanchions 2 in which shaft 3 is journaled for supporting the original roll of paper 4 as received from the paper machine in a mill. The paper 4 is rolled off from the roll and threaded through the guide roller 5 indicated more clearly in Figs. 1, 3 and 6, supported on brackets 6 and 7 mounted on the frame of the machine 1. The paper strip 4 is fed between two coacting sets of rotary knives or discs 8 and 9 arranged in spaced relation on shafts 10 and 11, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5. The shafts 10 and 11 are journaled at opposite ends in bearings which I have represented at 12 and 14; and 15 and 16. These bearings are mounted in vertically extending standards shown at 17 and 18, and are vertically adjustable by means of adjustment screws 19 and 20 operated from manually controllable adjustment knobs 21 and 22. Thus the amount of overlap of the knives or discs 8 and 9 is readily controllable for correspondingly controlling the slitting operation. The shafts 10 and 11 are driven simultaneously through gearing represented at 23 and 24 having drive teeth of such length that gears 23 and 24 may be continuously driven even when very substantial wide adjustment is made between the revolving knives or discs.

Rotary motion is imparted to the rotary knives or discs 8 and 9 through shafts 26 journaled in frame 1 and carrying gear'27 which meshes with gear 24 thus driving the knives simultaneously. The shaft 26 extends to one side of the frame of the machine as represented in Fig. l, and is provided with bevel gear 28 thereon which meshes with the bevel gear 29 carried by the motor drive shaft 30 driven from motor 31. The paper material is drawn through the machine by means offriction rollers individual to the strips which are formed. I have shown these rollers at 32, 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d, 32e, 32f, 32g, 32h, 32i, 32 32k, 321-, 32m, 32m, 320, 32p, 32g, and 321' carried by the shaft 33 extending to one side of the frame of the machine and having bevel gear 34 on the end thereof meshing with bevel gear 35 carried by motor drive shaft 30. Thus the friction rollers 3232r are simultaneouslydriven in coaction with adjacent friction 4 rollers indicated at 36, which individually coact with the aforesaid friction rollers for. drawing the paper strips through the machine, and also establishing stops or fixes with respect to which the twisting operation of each of the strips may be simultaneously performed. By reason of the forces imparted to the paper by the friction rollers 32-32r and coacting' roller 36, the paper is drawn through the revolving knives or discs 8 and 9 and is converted from the rolled sheet or web in roll 4 into the slitted strips shown at 37, 37a, 37b, 37c, 37d, 37e, 377, 37g, and 37h. Immediately upon slitting, these several strips are spread by means of a spreader member 38 having a plurality of upwardly extending vertically disposed spacing pegs 39 thereon, between which the several strips are guided symmetrically to either side of the center of the paper supply roll 4 through the spaced porcelain eyes shown at 40. The spaced porcelain eyes are lineally aligned with the centers of the individual friction rollers. In the application of my machine illustrated in the drawings, the number of slitted strips hasbeen shown as nine so that the operations performed on each of the strips has been shown confined to the longitudinal center of the machine and symmetrically on. each side thereof. It will be understood, however, that where the number of strips formed and treated and;

sets of friction rollers the strips are individually treated.

by fluid contained in the trough 41 into which a series of moistening rollers dip, as represented at 42, and

where the surface of such moistening rollers establish rolling and wiping contact with the flat surface of the paper strips. The paper strips individually wipe the surface of the rollers 42 and become sufiiciently pliable to enable the individual strips to be subjected to. the twisting operation. a

The twisting operation is accomplished in the same machine without removal of the strips where each strip is provided with; a fix at the position of the friction rollers 32e-32m and 36 and pass through a twisting head represented at 43. There is a twisting head individual to each strip, the head containing a slit 43a through which the strip extends. Each twisting head 43 is revolved by means of a worm 44 carried on the shaft 45- and meshing with worm wheel teeth 43b in each twisting head 43. The several worms are carried on shaft 45 on which there is mounted bevel gear 46- which meshes with bevel gear 47 Qnmotordriven shaft 30-. The'twister heads 43 are revolved at a, rate suflicient to twist the individual strip within the lineal space between the fix. established by the friction rollers and the position occupied by the twister heads. Within the lineal distance between the twister head and the winding operation, heat is directed on to each of the twister strands from infra,- red lightv sources as represented at 4.8 and 49, whereby the twisted strands, strings, tapes or yarns are delivered of the machine for accomplishing slitting, treating, twisting, drying and winding on'merchandi-sable cones or spools. with tension meansfor the strips and means at the fiyers; and bobbins for assisting in the twisting of the strips.

The machine of my invention is also equipped The number of bobbins and strips of paper may range over the order of sixty to one hundred and twenty. The process of my invention makes it possible to produce paper yarn and paper string or twine treated with plastics, resins, rubber derivatives, etc., for use as paper twine or paper tape. Each strand is dried as it is being produced and thereby the possibility of improper moisture content or stickiness is eliminated which otherwise might develop in a process where the yarn or twine or paper product is dried when fully Wound into a cone or spool. The entire process as described herein can be performed with a minimum of labor and time because there is no intermediate handling involved when the paper is subjected to the different steps in the process from the time the paper roll 4 is placed upon shaft 3 until the spindles 51 carrying the processed twisted paper strands are ready to be knit, woven or merchandised for many different purposes.

The process and machinery of my invention eliminates the large waste which accrues under prior methods. The cost per pound or product is reduced to the very minimum because of the saving in labor in handling the material from one operation to another. A superior product is obtained because the operation is continuous and there is less frequency of breaks or knots in the product produced. A removable paper or plastic cone or spool can be attached over the bobbin and the paper yarn, string or tape can be directly wound thereon. Thus the cone or spool can be removed from the bobbin after the continuous process of manufacturing as hereinbefore described and the resultant package can be sold or used directly in various merchandising channels with out the necessity of additional processing or handling.

While I have shown herein a form of twister which may be characterized as a fly twister, I may employ a ring twister as referred to in column 2, line 52 of this specification. Both a fly twister and a ring twister are conventional devices used in the manufacturing of yarn or string. Both will fit within approximately the same space limits. My invention involves the appli cation of either the fly or ring twister for a continuous process and an apparatus for the manufacturing of paper yarn or string which is accomplished in a continuous manner from the parent roll of paper through the slitting, twisting and winding operations. The fly or ring twister operates upon the strips of paper while they are integrally connected with the parent roll and before they are severed therefrom. The advantage secured by a ring twister is higher speed of operation and therefore increased production of material per man hour.

While I have described my invention in certain of its preferred embodiments, I realize that modifications may be made and I desire that it be understood that no limitations upon my invention are intended other than may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is, as follows:

1. The method of forming paper yarn from web material which consists in continuously moving a web of paper material, slitting the web of paper material into strips while moving the web paper material, separating the strips, moistening each of the strips while maintaining the strips in integral connection with the web material, twisting each of the separated moistened strips to form yarn while integrally connected with the web material, drying the separated twisted moistened strips, and spindling the dried twisted strips.

2. The method of forming yarn from web material as set forth in claim 1 in which the step of drying the twisted strips consists in passin the separated twisted strips through a field of infra-red heat rays prior to spindling.

3. Apparatus for the continuous production of paper yarn comprising a frame, means for journaling a paper roll in said frame for feeding a web of paper, a group of rotatably driven bobbins, means journaled in said frame for slitting said web into a multiplicity of paper strips, separating means in said frame for spreading and spacing said paper strips, means in said frame individually engaging each of said paper strips for simultaneously pulling said paper strips in spaced lineal paths while integrally connected with said web of paper for moving said web through said slitting means, a fluid applicator located be tween said last mentioned means and said separating means for applying moisture to each of said separated paper strips, said strips extending between said means for individually engaging each of said strips and said bobbins, rotative means engaging each of said strips and located in a position between said means for individually engaging each of said strips and said bobbins for imparting twisting movements to said strips to form strands, and means for winding the twisted strands on the individual rotatably driven bobbins.

4. Apparatus for the continuous production of paper yarn as set forth in claim 3, in which there are means interposed between the means for imparting twisting movements to said strips and the means for winding the strands on the individual bobbins for drying the paper strands subsequently to the twisting operation.

5. Apparatus for the continuous production of paper yarn as set forth in claim 3, in which a single, rotative geared drive is employed for driving the means for slitting said web, the means for pulling said paper strips for moving said web through said slitting means and for driving said rotative means engaging each of said strips and for operating said means for imparting twisting movements to said strips, and for driving said spindles on which said twisted strands are wound.

6. Apparatus for the continuous production of paper yarn as set forth in claim 3, in which the fluid applicators are constituted by a moistener applicator roll positioned in Wiping engagement with each of said paper strips in the course of the movement thereof in the spaced lineal paths between said spreading means, and said means for individually engaging said strips for individually treating each of said strips prior to the imparting of twisting movements thereto.

7. Apparatus for the continuous production of paper yarn as set forth in claim 3, in which said means for individually engaging each of said strips for, imparting twisting movements thereto each comprises a rotatable cylindrical head having a narrow longitudinally extending flat slit therein through which the individual paper strips pass, and gear means for revolving each of said heads a multiplicity of times for applying a plurality of twists to each of said strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,304,143 Barnum May 20, 1919 2,388,745 Katz Nov. 13, 1945 2,407,926 Hamilton Sept. 17, 1946 2,743,572 Hiensch May 1, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 294,792 Germany Oct. 26, 1916 

